This invention relates to memory devices including magnetic disks and disk drives. Types of disk drives include those permanently enclosing one or more disks, drives adapted for insertion and removal of disks, and combination drives having both permanent and interchangeable disks. Permanently mounted disks can be enclosed in sealed compartments to avoid entry of dust and other foreign matter. Removable disks however must include features which reduce contamination and damage during use, storage and handling, and further must have features to facilitate convenient yet accurate loading and removal of disks.
One approach to meet these needs is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,325 to O'Brian, granted Mar. 26, 1974. A wire receiver 16 is pivotally mounted to a disk drive. As a cartridge is inserted into the receiver, a bar 104 lifts a cover member 106 to reveal a normally closed opening 58 through which transducers have access to the disk. Precision surfaces guide the cartridge to a substantially centered position as receiver 16 is pivoted to its closed position. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,327 to Shill, granted July 13, 1971, there is shown an opening 20 for heads exposed by the pivotong of a shutter 70 upon insertion of cartridge 10 into the receiver. A prod 94 mounted with respect to the receiver pushes a leaf spring 90 in the cartridge to effect the pivoting.
Pivotal cartridge travel can hinder centering accuracy, however. To overcome this disadvantage, U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,787 to Hosaka granted Apr. 13, 1976, shows a cassette mounting receiver in which dual levers are used for mounting, thus to allow primarily vertical receiver motion just prior to full seating in the operative position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,794 to Brown granted Aug. 12, 1975, shows a front loading disk drive. A receiver 14 is mounted to the drive to a lever 40. Pins are contained in slots and guided so as to produce a receiver motion which is largely vertical just prior to seating in the operating position. The use of lever 40 in connection with the actuator and receiver is also advantgeous in breaking the magnetic coupling between the disk and spindle when unloading the disk cartridge. A further purpose of the structure in this patent is to conserve on vertical space in the front loading disk drive by maintaining the cartridge in a substantially horizontal attitude as it first clears the spindle then is lowered for mounting in its operating position.
The dual lever systems of these patents, while somewhat successful in controlling the attitude of an inserted cartridge, have complexity which reduces reliability. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a comparatively simple yet equally effective and more reliable structure to accept a cartridge for insertion into a disk drive, and to guide the cartridge, once inserted, to a substantially centered position within the disk drive.
It is a further object of this invention to provide, in connection with a cartridge normally frictionally engaging a disk contained therein, to provide a receiver adapted for supplying a load to release the disk from the cartridge when in its operating position. Such a cartridge is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,246 to Berthoux, granted Mar. 7, 1978. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a receiver particularly well adapted to break a magnetic coupling between a disk and a drive spindle. It is another objective of this invention to provide a means to eject the cartridge for more convenient removal from a disk drive.